


5 Times the Football team were Supportive of Charlie's sexuality

by ImVeryConfused



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Men Crying, Monty isn't as Much of a Dick, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24804535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImVeryConfused/pseuds/ImVeryConfused
Summary: As the title says!!!
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 77
Kudos: 185





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: I am not American i am British. I know nothing about american football. I barely know anything about British football. Don't kill me if i make some wrong references. I'm just going off of what i can see.

All of us are sitting, packed tightly on the benches. Normally we can all fit comfortably on the bench but with all our football gear on, there's barely any room left to breath with how squashed we are. Every single guy in the room is grinning madly, breath still a bit laboured from our latest victory. The stench of sweat lingers in the locker room but no one seems to care.

"Liberty..." Coach Kerba says with a mock serious voice, drawing everyone’s attention to him, though it was clear that he was trying to build up the tension as he looked like he were about to burst out in laughter at any moment. "You guys.... absolutely killed it out here!" He shouts throwing his fist up and is joined by everyone else in the room who has also thrown their fists up and began to shout.

"Yeah we did!" Monty next to me yells in agreement, slapping his arm against his shoulder pad.

"You guys really acted like a team and it made me so proud to see you all out there today."

It was rare that we see Coach Kerba this happy and it made us guys 10 times happier if that were even possible.

"But there was one person who stood out particularly. And I am sure it's been hard for you all after Zach left but I've seen this person step up and start to fill his shoes. I’ve been asking around and I know you’ll all agree with me when I announce new captain is...Charlie St George." At this everyone started roaring and clapping and bashing the side of the lockers. I felt strong slaps on my back and shoulder, pushing me towards Kerba. Considering the news I just heard I know I should be smiling but m face went completely slack. What the hell is going on? There has to be some sort of mistake.

"Come up here Charlie." Coach says Kerba says waving me forward.

Whether it’s because of the exhausting game we just played or because of the shock, I don't know, but I can't seem to get my legs moving.

"Go on Charlie!" Justin yelled, placing his arms beneath my shoulders, and hoisting me upwards to stand besides the coach. 

When I stand my legs feel weak and shaky and I feel like I about to throw up. The way Coach was smiling at me, it almost made me want to smile back but I could not shake the feeling that this was all one big prank. It's a real mystery how they got Kerba to play along because he's normally so serious about football.

Kerba throws his arm around me, seeming not to care that i am soaked in sweat, and dragged me the remaining way to the front, facing everyone.

"Give it up for your new captain Liberty!" Kerba yells and now all the boys are standing and clapping loudly. I still can’t seem to make myself smile. I'm waiting for them to start laughing and tell me they were just joking. Then I'll laugh it off and Kerba will announce the real Captain.

"Give us a speech captain." Ramon yells.

Suddenly the room is filled by loud, chanting voices. Speech. Speech. Speech.

Kerba raises his hand slightly to calm to boys down then he slaps me on the back. "Give your team what they are asking for."

"S-stop playing around guys." I say in joking voice. At least i tried to play it off but it comes out small and hurt.

"C’mon captain!" Monty yells.

"Stop fucking with me." I say though this time it's stronger. Angrier.

"No one's fucking with you Charlie. We voted for you." Justin says. "You're our quarterback and we couldn’t have won without you."

Soon the room is once again filled with deafening yells and chants from all my team mate who are now slapping on their gear and on the locker doors to make as much noise as possible. Coach Kerba looks slightly irritated but he doesn’t make any move to reprimand them. 

My throat suddenly feels tighter and my eyes sting slightly at the back. "You...You guys are serious?" 

"Yes, were serious Charlie." Kerba says shaking me slightly.

"Well that's erm..." I say swallowing thickly to remove the thickness from my voice but i am unsuccessful. "Thank you guys, so much and I’ll do my best to make you proud."

"Are you crying Charlie?" Luke laughs.

"No no." I say quickly wiping the moisture from my eyes. "I'm just a little sweaty after the game so..." I joke, gaining laughs from all the boys.

"Yeah right!" Monty laughs sarcastically. "Stop crying man, that's so gay."

Loud laughter roars out and I force myself to join in, but my heart isn't really in it at all. I don’t think it’s funny. How can I laugh when I'm surrounded by people who would hate me if they knew the real me? From then my smiles feel so much more forced and can't really seem to get into any of the conversations because when they find out my secret, will the really want ne as their Captain.

\-------------

"Come on Captain." Kerba smirked throwing a friendly arm around my shoulders the next day and steering me in the locker room as soon as i stepped in. "You are going to lead the team through drills today."

"I...i cant." I said shaking his arm off me. His face slowly dropped and morphed into one of concern.

"Why not St George are you injured?" 

"No, it's not that coach." I asked feeling awkwardness as many players had stopped their changing into their gear to listen in on our conversation. The were in various states of undress, some of them even stark naked.

"Are you nervous then? Because every new captain is nervous on-"

"It's not that coach." I said quickly silencing him as I sensed a long Kerba-speech coming on. "I just... haven't been honest with you all. And I don't think anyone would really want me leading them if you find out."

Tears build up in my eyes but I quickly wipe them away so hopefully Kerba didn't realise. 

"What that St George?" I hear Luke ask from behind me.

Soon the attention of all the boys in the room is on me. My eyes close as i feel the dread building up in my stomach. It's now or never.

"I... have something to tell you all. And you guys probably won't want me as your Captain after," I say an my voice hitches embarrassingly. "But I can't keep lying to you guys anymore,not after you’ve put so much trust in me."

"Stop pissing around St George." Monty yells from the side of the room, in a state of half dress with his jersey on the bench beside him.

"Shut up and let the Captain speak!" Diego shouts, laughing. I can tell he think it's a joke but after I tell them I know he won't be smiling anymore.

"I...I didn't tell you before because I didn't think it mattered...I was just a quarterback so all that was important was playing. I... After being chosen for captain...knowing you guys put so much trust in me, it just felt wrong not telling you all." When I look up briefly, I can see the eyes of all my teammates staring at me with confusion." I know it will probably make some of you feel...uncomfortable and I get but can't change who I am. I... I like boys." I swallow thickly and i long moment of silence goes by so I carry on as I know that if I stop I’ll never be able to finish. "And girls. I like both. That doesn't suddenly mean I fancy any of you...not that you guy are unattractive, just that I’m not preying on you or anything." I look up for a split second, but I quickly look down again as i am met with confused expression.

"Charlie-" Diego starts but i already know what he’s going to say.

"I know. I resign as Captain and I’ll leave the team if you guys want me to but I really loved playing with you guys. Sorry that i-"

"Charlie!" Diego says again though this time its louder and firmer and I’m quickly silenced. "Don’t ever even joke about leaving the team again." He shouts and I look up to him to see that his face is devoid of disgust or anger, he just looks worried. "You are one of us Charlie we don't care if you like girls or guys or whatever. You’re /our/ quarterback!"

"Yeah!" Justin yells. "You are our captain."

"Guys." I say in a small awe-struck voice. No matter how many times I played out this scenario in my head, this is not what I imagined whatsoever. "You're ok with it?"

"Of course we /ok/ with its Charlie. And we all sort of pieced together that you were a bit different anyway." Diego said stepping forward in his half-clothed state and placing his hand on my shoulder in a real show of trust. He didn't even stop to think that I may be crushing on him or checking him out, he just treated me like he would normally.. “I mean… you have a shirtless picture of Eli Manning as your screen saver mate. So, you made it kind of obvious.”

I wanted to reply that Eli Manning had 2 Super Bowl rings and that he was a national treasure but soon the entire team swarmed me and were tapping my shoulders and back in a similar way Diego had done, showing their support.

"If anyone give you trouble just tell us and we'll sort the out." Monty said when he came over and it followed by yells of agreement like ‘No one messes with one if ours.’

Suddenly I am unable to stop the tears as the spring to my eyes and roll on my face.

"Don’t cry." Monty says scratching his head and looking away awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I just." Sniff "Didn't expect it to go like this. At all."

"We would never turn our back on you Charles. Your stuck with us." He says wrapping muscly arms squashing me. And never have I felt more at home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie goes to a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 600 hits in a day!!! You guys made me so happy so i put out the next chapter as soon as possible. Thank you so much for Reading/Kudos/Comments.❤❤❤❤

I have always felt like the rest of team baby me. Even now I'm the captain, they still treat me like a kid sometimes. It could be that I'm putting gear away and they take it off me to put it away themselves. Or I'm in an argument and they immediately come to my defence, even when I’m in the wrong. 

Yeah i know they are just trying to help me out but I can do some things myself. I don't need them to constantly be looking out for me. So, after practice on Thursday, I really didn’t expect Luke to say "Man, you need to lose your virginity." 

A small blush crept up on on my face. "What does me losing my virginity have to do with it?" 

“I just invited you to a party and you'd rather be revising for a maths test."

"Well...I don't want to fail." I said defensively and I can hear the snickers of everyone else in the locker room.

"Charlie, you are coming to this party, if I have to drag you out, I will." Diego says slapping my shoulder.

"O-ok." I concede knowing that if Diego really wanted something, he was going to get it and who knows? It could be fun.

\-----------

It was not fun. All night girls have been throwing themselves at me and I've been politely rejecting them but it's becoming harder and harder to be nice about it. 

From across the room, I spot a group of girls huddle together and whispering about something. The ringleader is a blonde girl and she is wearing a bunch of makeup. I bet she is quite pretty underneath but as he night has gone on, her make up seems to have smeared across her face. Soon her friends seem to be encouraging he forward so she grabs a red cup filled will god knows what and chugs it all. She then threw the cup down and starts head towards me, smiling as she did. I smiled back or at least I tried to but it was forced as I already knew where this was going. 

Up close she looks worse. Her eyes were droopy and she was sweating profusely. "So...they say you’re the captain." She said in a slurred voice, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Y-yes. I'm the Captain." I stuttered.

"So, you could... teach me a thing or two...about football." She pouted suggestively.

"Erm...No i don't really know all that much about it." I lied lamely and I began to feel the strong urge to punch myself in the face.

"But...your the Captain." She said confusedly, placing her index finger on my chest and poking me lightly.

"I’m...a bad captain." 

"Yes... you are a bad boy." She pouted with her eyes closed, leaning in slightly and puckering her lips.

I couldn’t stop the look of disgust marring my face.

"What are you doing?" I asked sharply pushing her away lightly by her shoulders.

"Making out with you." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Nonono. We are not going to make out. Your drunk." 

"It doesn't matter baby." She said leaning forward again and I push her away harder this time. Had she been sober, she would have just been pushed back a step but in her alcohol addled state she stumbled backwards, bumping into people as she did. Before she left she gave me a dirty look, and I don't blame her. A pretty girl like was, she probably hasn’t experienced rejection before.

"What was that man!" Luke scolded from behind me.

"I just...wasn’t in to her." I say lamely.

"You've been pushing away every single girl we've sent in your direction Charles."

"I...i can’t help it if I don't fancy them. I...I need a drink." I say quickly walking away because I didn't want to see his look of disappointment. The drinks table was filled with all types of alcohol but I reached for punch.

"This just not your scene?" I hear a voice ask from behind me. When I turn, I see that it belongs a tall guy. He looks Latino or something i can’t really tell really.

"No...i was forced to come here actually." I admit.

"Me too. My friends said I need to get out more and here I am. I don't even know who's party this is." He chuckles.

"Me neither. I'm Charlie by the way." I say holding my hand out toward him.

"Esteban." He said and i realise he had a slight accent. He's good looking. I like /really/ good looking. 

"Do you live around here?" 

"Mmhhh not too far. I live go to Hillside what about you?"

"Liberty."

"There you are Charlie!" I hear Diego shout from behind me. He grabs my hand and before I can say anything he had dragged me away into the sea of people. I look back but I can no longer see Esteban anymore.

"Meet Natalie." He says proudly pointing at a curly-haired brunette.

"H-hello." I say albeit awkwardly, with my eyes still flitting around in search of Esteban.

"Good luck mate." He said slapping my back and walking away.

And this is how the rest of the night went. The guys all introducing girls to me and me rejecting them, one after the other. I think I’m just going to leave.

"Charlie!" I hear a voice sound from behind me. It's Diego. And I swear to God, if he introduces me to one more person I will ki-

But in front of me isn’t the skimpily dressed girls that he has been throwing at me.

"Charlie meet Es-"

"Esteban." I quickly finish. "Yeah we met. I've been looking for him all night."

"I could see the girls swarming you so I decided to stay clear." He joked. "That was until your friend told me that you might be interested...?" 

My mouth gaped open, unable to form word.

"Yeah. Charlie's totally into guys." Diego answered in my stead smiling wildly.

"How about we...get out of here then." Esteban says suggestively.

"Y-yeah." I say.

"Finally, I get it right!" Diego exclaimed. Pulling me in for a hug. When I was close smell the alcohol on him. I felt his hand slip into my pocket and I looked at him in confusion. Reaching into my pocket i felt a plastic wrapper and I instantly realise that he has just slipped a condom in my pocket.

A small blush appeared on my face and I looked at Diego. He gave me a pointed looked that a parent would give when giving their child the sex talk but didn't mention it again. Then he turned to Esteban and grabbed his collar, playfully as far as I could yell.

"You'd better treat him well. Or else." He threatens but i can tell he's only half joking.

"Here you go again treating me like a kid. I know what I’m doing Diego." I say lightly pushing him away from Esteban as I didn't want him to scare him off. "I'll see you tomorrow." I say grabbing Esteban by the arm pulling him away before Diego can threaten him anymore.

We go back to his place.  
\----------

The next day before practice I have maths and Ms Montague lets us put a bit late so i have to run in order to get there on time. I know I’m going to have to change super quick because the other guys will probably nearly be done by now and I don’t want to give Kerba a reason to give me extra laps. When i enter i quickly throw my bag down and I begin to remove my jersey but then i realise...nobody else is dressed yet. They are all just sitting there in as if waiting for something.

"Well?" Monty asks after a long silence.

"Well...what?" I ask but I have a slight idea where this conversation was going.

"How was last night?" He says impatiently.

"Yeah...it was fun." I reply, almost laughing at the fact that all the guys are nearly jumping out of their skin in anticipation.

"Did you..." Justin asks and trails off.

"Yeah." I say and i feel a smile coming to my face. Last night had been amazing.

Soon everyone starts cheering and clapping and i can feel my face heating up.

"Wow." Diego exclaims standing up and walking towards me. "It was hard work but its finally happened." He takes my face into his hands. "Our boy has become a man." He says with fake tears in his voice.

The clapping and cheering become louder and i have to turn to hide the blush on my face. Soon the door slams open and Kerba stepped in.

"Quite down and get changed or it'll be extra laps for you all!" He shouts and leaves as quickly as he came, slamming the door. 

For a second everyone is silence but then we all burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pssssst. Kudos and Comments make me work faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liberty Tigers vs Hilcrest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks Gb1223gb who helped to fix all my incorrect football terms.
> 
> WARNING!!! ⚠HOMOPHOBIC SLURS⚠

"Ok boys. This is your chance to go out and show everyone what you're made of. We've won 4 games in a row now let’s make it a 5th!" Kerba yells causing all the boys to go wild too. 

  
We were all pumped full of adrenaline and excitement. I always love this pre-game feeling. Being here with the team all just rearing to go makes me feel as if I'm indestructible. Nothing can hurt me when i have these guys behind me. As soon as we walk onto the unfamiliar pitch, the crowd are roaring so loud that i can't even hear what Justin who is right next to me is saying.

  
The other team are wearing purple and they are not too far from us. We’re in their school and the stands are filled with Hilcrest students who are wearing matching purple and holding encouraging signs. The stands are also packed with Liberty students who have come along to support us.

  
"We've got this Captain." Luke shouts giving me an encouraging slap on the back and I believe him. We can win this thing for sure.

  
When the game starts it feels as we are all one big machine. 10 minutes into the game, we are in the lead. My eyes catch Justin’s and he is smiling widely. It is looking like this is going to be quite an easy win as the opposing team has yet to score a touchdown on us. As Diego scores a touchdown I jump into the air and shout a whoop of happiness. As my excitement builds, I offer a quick wave to Coach Kerba in the waiting area. He shakes his head at me, almost scolding but he can’t help but smile as we are winning. Just as I begin to think that nothing can ruin my mood, a footballer from Hilcrest’s team shoves me hard, throwing my balance off a bit. I ignore though, thinking that it was an accident as we are playing football after all. However, I realise that it was definitely intentional when I hear him mutter "Fucking faggot." Under his breath.

“What did you say?” I asked heatedly, adrenaline pumping from the game.

“I said you’re a fucking faggot!” He says giving me another shove backwards. Luckily, I expected in and I manage to stay on my feet.  
  


"You need to take it eas-" I begin to say but I don't have the chance to finish before he leaps on to me causing us both to collapse on the ground. His fist connects painfully with my side and I clench my eyes shut in pain. Among the roaring of people in the stands, I can hear loud angry voices edging towards us. With all my strength I shove the guy to the side, off me and I stand up as quick as I can.  
  


To the side I can see Diego and Luke with other members of our team approaching us menacingly. The other team have also gathered and are also closing in on us.  
  


"I'm gonna beat the shit out of him!" I hear Diego yell. He has this unhinged look in his eye that he gets whenever he's really about to lose it so I quickly make my way to him, holding my arms out to obstruct his path.

  
"No Diego stop!" I shout. "Do you want us to get disqualified for fighting?" 

  
"That fucker just hit you late, it was clearly a penalty. This fucking ref clearly isn’t going to do anything about it because he's from their school. So, I'm gonna rearrange that little shit’s face!"  
  


From the looks of my teammates, they all agree with Diego's idea as they have all seemed to abandon the game and were squaring up the members of the opposing team.  
  


"Guys! Stop this!" I shout and look back to see that the other team have also readied themselves for battle. "If we get disqualified it's going to count as a loss and that would mess up our season!"  
  


I could see that my words are beginning to get through to them as their pace slows down.  
  


"We’re better than this." I say giving them a full-flegged-captain-disappointed look.  
  


I can finally see their anger begin to dissipate and they turn around facing their backs to the Hillcrest team.  
  


“Fuck!” Diego yells clearly frustrated by my words. "Ok. We won’t do anything now, but I swear, If they make one more wrong move." His lips were pinched into a thin line and as his eyes angrily on the player in the number 12 jersey that barged me.  
  
\----------

At half time i can see that the team are still a bit worked up by the way that they are all aggressively throwing gear around.  
  


"Can someone explain to me what the hell happened out there?" Kerba asked.

  
"You saw how he hit Charlie!" Justin was quick to shout.

  
"Yes i saw but this /is/ football."

  
"He did it on purpose. I can tell. These Hilcrest guys are dicks." Diego stand up and glares angrily in the direction of where the Hilcrest team were resting. "Innit Charlie?"

  
Soon I have the eyes of all the team resting on me and it makes me feel quite unsettled. "Well he was saying some stuff... like calling me a fag or whatever before he jumped on me, so I doubt it was an accident."

  
"What?" Luke shouts suddenly riled up again and Kerba has to physically restrain him from running over to the Hilcrest stands. However, i looks, like they saved him the journey as I spot the Hilcrest team walking over to us.  
  


"What the hell do you want?" Diego asks hotly.  
  


"We're just here to see how the fairy is after his fall." The boy in the number 12 jersey who barged my said with mock sympathy.  
  


“What the hell did you just say?” Ramon asks throwing the water bottle he was just drinking on the ground.

“You boys go back to your team now!” Kerba says to the Hilcrest boys.

“We just came here to warn the fairy to stay away from my cousin.” A taller, angry looking boy wear number 17 said.

“What are you talking about I don’t even know your cousin!” I replied, standing up and entire Hilcrest team were now on guard, taking steps towards me. The rest of the team stood up quickly in my defence.

“He said you tried to make a move on him at Rachel’s party.” Number 17 sneers disgustedly. The only party I’ve been to for a long time was when the guys forced me along with them to that random party. Now that he mentions it though, there were a lot of Hilcrest students there. The only guy that I spoke to there was… oh. Esteban. “He doesn’t need faggots like you around him.”

“If you don’t leave now, I’ll report you all.” Kerba says with his fury in his eyes.

“Okay. Okay.” Another blonde boy responds. “But your quarterback better watch out during this match. I wouldn’t want him to get…injured.” He said smiling then he tapped the shoulder of his teammates who all turned around and headed back to their bench.

Admittedly, this threat had me a bit on edge. The dangers of football were already enough without an entire team aiming to hurt you

There’s only a minute left of our break now, but instead of taking strategy, we’ve all just been sitting quietly with the event that just took place, fresh in our mind. I can tell that they are all worried about me.

“Charlie, if you want to sit this one out, no one would blame you.” Kerba finally says, in a small voice.

“No. I’m not being benched!” I say a bit louder than I intended.

“But they’re targeting you Charlie.” Mike says, his voice full of worry.

“I’m not being benched!” I say, this time more adamantly. “I’m not running away from those guys just ‘cause they don’t like me.”

“Charlie these guys aren’t playing around!” Diego says.

“I’m not either Diego. I wanna win this thing and we’re so close.” When I look around, I am met with sceptical looks. “Coach come on.”

Coach looks like his think for a while. “Ok, you can play.”

“Yes!” I yell.

“But the second it looks like those guys are aiming for, I’m pulling you out.” He warns.

“Yeah coach.”

As they promised, throughout the game, members from the other team constantly slam into me. It’s like they’ve given up on winning now, and they’re only aim is to hurt me. I frequently send smiling to Kerba to reassure him that I am ok, even though my body is aching with bruises. In turn, my team have also gotten more violent towards our opponents and we a racking up penalties as conveniently, the referee only sees it when we play rough.

In the distance, I see that Justin has caught the ball and he is running with it to the end-zone. I follow him with my eyes, preparing to cheer as he efforted scores another touchdown but the air is quickly knocked from my lungs and I fall to the ground as number 17 crashes into me. For a second, I see black and my mouth tastes like blood. When I open my eyes, he is towering over me, smirking. Seconds later he is on the ground besides me as Luke has shoved him to the ground. The referee blows his whistle and threw the yellow flag from out of his, yet again calling a penalty against Liberty. I stand shakily feeling frustration rush though me.

“You good Charles?” Luke asks.

Unable to form words, I just nod at him. On the side, I can see Kerba raise his arm and I know that he is going to sub me out, so I begin walking towards him. My head is hung low and I am clutching my side which is still throbbing from when number 17 barged me. Soon I feel an arm around neck.

“You did good Captain.” Diego says.

I look around and soon notice the entire team trailing behind us.

“You guys need to go play.” I say shrugging his arm off me, slightly embarrassed. I mean, I’m supposed to be their Captain, yet I can’t even handle myself o the field.

“We’re not playing those assholes.” Ramon says.  
  


“If we don’t play, we forfeit the game. We’re in the lead so you gu-“

“We’re not playing those assholes.” Ramon says more forcefully, balling his fist.

When we reach Kerba he instantly starts asking if I’m alright. The team sit around me looking equally as concerned.

“You guys didn’t have to do that.” I say in a small voice, my voice full of tears.

“Yes, we did Captain.” Justin says, his eyes holding a certain determination that I could see the entire team carried. A few tears slip out of my eyes and I don’t bother wiping them. once again i feel very lucky to be a part of the Liberty Tigers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love some SUGGESTIONS for the next chapter as i'm having some writer's block.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was blown awayyyyy with all the postive comments on the last chapter. Thank you for everyone who commented, lifting my mood in his depressing time.
> 
> This chapter was the product of all your suggestions so i hope you like it!!!
> 
> Special thanks to EevaLeena, AndreC, CookieFan1998 and SilverShadow1 whos suggestions were all used to make this chapter. I will be using some more of your suggestion in the last chapter 😉.
> 
> Thanks also to Gb1223gb who helped with my football references!!!

Training today was really a punishment in disguise. It was clear that Kerba was still really pissed about the loss of our winning streak as the practice was particularly relentless. I mean, he's always been a bit strict but recently he's been downright evil, making us run around the field many times. He obviously doesn't want to yell at us because he understands why we did it but that doesn’t mean he's happy about it! I even tried to speak to him about it trying to pull out some of my Captain-authority, but it didn't work at all! We all know that it's better to just do the runs than complain because he'll just increase the number. I can't help but feel like it's my fault after all they did forfeit the game in my defence.

As I am slowly making my final lap around the field, I spot him watching from the corner of my eye. I have no idea how long he has been standing there but I feel the heat being to rise to my face at the fact that he has seen me slowly running around the field. Realising that I now had an audience, enabled me to access previous untapped energy and my feet began to slam against the grass harder and quicker. As my pace picked up, I quickly out ran Luke and some other players and I was soon catching up to Diego who was always at the front.

As if sensing me coming up behind him, Diego began to pick up his pace more but I was quickly closing the gap between us. Soon we were both all-out sprinting; Diego due to his desire to always come first and me due to my desire to impress my boyfriend who was stood in the stands.

By the end of the lap, Diego had come first with me mere steps behind him. Were both, hunched over to catch our breath. At the same time, we looked up at each other then promptly burst out in laughter. Diego then gave a friendly slap to my shoulder.

"You did good Captain. Maybe next time you'll come out first." He teased.

I returned the shove, slightly harder. By the time we caught our breath, the other boys had caught up, seemingly inspired by mine and Diego's race. When they reached us, they were all shooting me knowing looks for some reason.

"What?" I asked.

"Trying to impress someone?" Luke replied and I could feel my face heat up. My eyes quickly darted from the guys to Alex who was still watching from the stands. As soon as the guys saw me look at him, they began howling.

"Oooooooooh." Ramon called out causing my face to turn even more red if that were even possible.

"Diego you should have let him come first!" Justin yelled giving a light shove to Diego who looked like he was suddenly hit with realisation.

"How was I supposed to know he was trying to impress his boyfriend?" Diego cried out causing everyone to burst out in laughter. 

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Alex had climbed down from the stands and was now standing as the edge of the pitch so I quickly said bye to guys then started off on a light jog towards him; certainly not able to run due to all the sprinting I had just done. When I reached him, he was smiling so brightly at me that I almost buckled over at the sight of it.

"Hey." He greeted in a small voice.

"Hello beautiful." I said causing his face to tinge pink and he quickly averted his eyes. We were still in the early stages of our relationship, so he still blushed like crazy and found it hard to accept my compliments. Therefore, I have made it my goal to bombard him with so many compliments until he has to finally accepts my words as the truth. "What are you doing here?"

"I... came to pick you up." He answered slightly nervously picking at his sleeve. 

"Thanks babe." I whispered leaning in for a kiss. When our lips connected, Alex's body went stiff for a second, but he soon relaxed into it, grabbing slightly at my jersey as the kiss deepened. His mouth had slipped opened so taking the opportunity, I slipped my own tongue into his mouth. I could feel him lightly sucking on my tongue and I returned the favour by taking his bottom lip in between mine and-

"Oooooooooooh." I heard a loud voice catcall causing both me and Alex to quickly pull back. It is almost as if we had forgotten that we were outside for a moment but we were soon reminded as we were surrounded by football players. Our faces were both slightly flushed and our lips glistening. Much to mine and Alex's embarrassment, the guys were still making loud noises and whistling at us. Alex quickly took as step back but he backed into the barrier between the stands and the field so we were both effectively trapped.

Alex looked somewhat like a caged bunny and I could see his eyes shifting around nervously. I reached out for his hand, intertwining his fingers with my own and pulling him forward lightly.

"I would like you to meet my friends." I say quietly but he doesn't reply as its sort of inevitable right now. Soon the guys are standing right next to us and Alex begins to squeeze my hand lightly.

"Hello, I don't think we've met. My name is Diego." He says giving Alex a mock courtesy. Alex responds with a small wave.

"And I'm Luke." He says, holding out his hand to shake Alex's own which was slightly awkward because Alex right hand was occupied so they had a weird, left-handed hand shake.

Soon all the guys had introduce themselves and they had begun animatedly discussing embarrassing stories about me, much to my chagrin.

"Oh and remember Alex's try-outs?" Ramon said causing some of the older boys to laugh loudly and me to blush like crazy. That had been the most humiliating occurrence of my entire high school life. It was my first time meeting any of the boys from the football team and surely it was a terrible first impression though it couldn't have been that bad as i still made the team! 

"So get this right,” Monty begun dramatically. “Charlie came into the try-outs and coach was testing out how good he was with a ball so we were passing to him and all he had to do was catch it and pass it back. Mike here threw a bad ball, so no one really expected him to catch it, but instead of leaving it, this idiot dived for the ball and he ended up face-planting the ground!" By the end of the story, Monty was laughing so loud that i could barely understand him but Alex seem to as he was also laughing loudly.

"His nose was bleeding so much we had to take him to the nurse. He's lucky he didn’t loose a tooth!" Mike laughed.

Soon Alex look like he was becoming more comfortable int he presence of my friends but it was getting quite late.

"Ok. I'm gonna go quickly shower and then we can get out of here." I announced to Alex. The rest of the guys agreed as they followed me to the changing room.

\----------  
We all finished dressing at around the same time so we all returned to the field to get Alex.

"Do you guys want to come Wendy’s with us, we're kind of hungry." Monty asks.

"Yeah sure i don't mind." Alex replied but i could tell he wasn’t too keen, even though gotten a bit used to speaking to the guys.

"Erm...Actually i was planning to take Alex on a a date." I decline in his stead.

Soon we split up and Alex and I are walking hand-in-hand. 

"So...do you want to come back to mine?" I ask and I suddenely realise the implications of my question. "Not to...do anything. Just to talk and maybe grab a bite to ea-"

"Yes i would love to." Alex quickly says stopping me from launching into a tirade.

"That’s great." I say.

As we continue walking, i feel a rush of calmness rush over me. I always feel so relaxed whenever im with Alex. However the feeling of happiness soon morphs into anger when I spot the person standing not too far in front of us.

“Charlie, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” Esteban says standing much less confidently than he was at the party. His eyes roam around nervously, as if he was being followed or something. "Can i talk to you alone?" He asks with his eyes flicking to Alex who has already begun releasing my hand but I quickly tighten my hold.

"No. Anything you want to say, you can say in front of my boyfriend." I state feeling a certain happiness at the look of sadness that he has when I said 'boyfriend'.

"Ok. I want to talk about... the game with Hilcrest. Those guys were way out of line. They got in so much trouble after the game." He said.

"They deserve it." I said with anger and humiliation surging through me as memories of that game began to surface.

"I'm...i'm sorry about my part in all of it. I didn't mean for them to find out, but someone saw us leaving the party and told my cousin about it. My family don't know I'm...gay or anything. They would never accept it because they are all strict Catholics and I know I'll get kicked out or something so… I lied. I said that you were trying to make a move on me and that I rejected you. I've felt so horrible for doing that but i was just scared. I'm really sorry." Esteban said quite rushed and he looked genuinely apologetic so I found it hard to stay mad at him.

"I... guess I understand why you did what you did but...what they did to me and my team was so fucked up. I am lucky that I have people around me who support me. I have Alex and the guys. Without them I don’t know how I would cope with it all."

"Everyone thought it was really brave of them to walk away even with all the shit Hilcrest were doing.” Esteban admits. 

"Yeah those guys always have my back and I will always have theirs. It sucks that we lost our streak but I'm happy no one got seriously hurt or anything."

“I guess if you guys /did/ fight back, you would be in the same deep shit that Hilcrest are in now. So many schools have been cancelling their matches with Hillcrest because rumours have been spreading about them being homophobic and violent and shit." Esteban sighs with his eyes looking glossy as if he was about to start crying but I have no idea how to comfort him.

When the first tear rolls down his cheek I can do nothing but awkwardly stand there but Alex who has been quietly standing besides me up to this point, reaches out and grabs Esteban’s hand with his own free hand.

“I don’t know you, but you seem like a good guy. And those Hilcrest guys who were targeting Charlie just because he’s bi, are horrible people. I know it’s going to be really hard for you to find people who can support you but hanging out with people like that isn’t doing you any good. Some people just suck but you shouldn’t let them of even your parents stop you from being yourself. If they can’t accept you, surround yourself with people who can or you are going to find yourself really unhappy in the future.” Alex says giving hi hand a quick squeeze. 

At Alex’s words, Esteban completely breaks down and his body is wracked with sobs. Alex is quick to wrap him in an embrace and I place a support hand on his shoulder as his cries. All we can do now is support him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Reading/Comments/Kudos
> 
> Carry on sending more suggestions!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The perfect Prom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took so long!!!
> 
> I'm not particularly happy with the ending so if there's any suggestions....comment down below. 
> 
> Sorry this chhapter is a bit sloppy i was in a bit of a rush to get it out.
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING. This is my first fic (that's not a oneshot) that i have completed. Thank you very much for motivating me with hits, kudos and comments.
> 
> Thank you to Canadian_31 who gave me inspiration for this chapter!!!!

I’ve never really cared about school dances. All other the guys get all worked up about which girls they are going to ask and how they are going to make a move on them when they are there. I always contribute to the conversations, but I’ve never actually even asked anyone to prom. The only time I’ve went with someone was when I went with Jess and I pretty much had no choice in that matter.

So, you could understand why I'm completely stumped about how to ask Alex to prom. I can't even stomach my food down with how nervous I am.

"Cheer up St George." Luke says throwing a cold chip at my head causing me to scowl at him.

"Let me guess, you're thinking about how to ask Alex to prom again." Diego sighs causing everyone else at our table to snicker.

"It's not funny guys." I say continuing to shift the chips around my plate.

"Don't be such a downer Charles, he's obviously going to say yes. Just ask him." Ramon says playfully shoving me to the side, but I am anything but amused so I shoot him a dirty look. They don't know how it feels like because they all have girlfriends who don't mind having a boyfriend on the football team. A couple of their girlfriends only with them /because/ there are on the football team. Asking their girlfriends to prom is pretty much a certain yes. But me? My boyfriend has made it clear that he wants as little to do with the football team as possible. It's really hard to even show him any sort of affection in public because of these prejudices so it would definitely be a difficult task to ask him to prom.

Drawing me out from my thoughts, besides our table there is a guy who I can recognise from my Math class is standing on the table with roses in his hand. A girl not too far from him has a hand over her mouth in shock as the boy bends down and passes her the roses. 

"Will you go to prom with me?" He asks smiling brightly at her.

Her face is so red, and she is smiling so brightly that I worry she may faint.

"Yes. Of course, I will Danny she says climbing up the table and hugging him.

Personally, I think the whole thing seems quite dangerous but no one else seems to share this view as they are all clapping and cheering on the couple.

"That's what you need." Diego next to me nudges me. "A grand gesture." 

"No no no." I quickly say. "Alex isn't into this sort of thing-"

"Charlie! Everyone likes a bit of public affection. Even Alex." Luke reasoned.

"Oh, I have a great idea!" Diego exclaimed but I highly doubted it as he was never one for sensible ideas. "Get a massive picture of your face-"

"And signs big signs!" Ramon chimed in excitedly.

"All over the corridor. And at the end of the hall, you'll be holding flowers and balloons and shit-" Diego says enthusiastically.

"Will any of this actually work." I interrupted seeing how worked up he was getting.

"Yes of course." He says looking almost offended at my mistrust. "I did it for Mindy Holloway in 5th grade and she loved it."

"Mindy Holloway would have gone with you is you gave her your left-over chips then asked her." Monty teased and Diego quickly threw a chip at him in her defence as everyone roared with laughter

"I’ll take the picture alright St George." Luke says walking around the table to stand beside me. "Give us a smile then."

I try to smile as best as I can but feeling the eyes of the entire football team on me, I can't help but feel a bit awkward, especially as we are in the middle of the cafeteria.

"I said a smile!" He says giving a light shove to my knees, clearly trying to make me laugh but failing.

"This is too much pressure Luke." I swat at his phone. This whole idea isn’t going to work anyway.

"Just think about Alex, Charles." Monty yells from the other side of the table.

If Alex were here, he'd probably be laughing about how ridiculous this idea is. I smile fondly but the second I do, a bright light flashes in my eyes.

"I got it!" Luke announces. When he turns the phone around, I am actually surprised about how happy I look. Actually, because of Alex, I am the happiest that I have been in a very long time.

Diego peers at the photo and then smiles at me. "Let’s blow this photo up and stick on the walls."

I am about to protest but Luke see it coming and quickly silences me.

"As soon as Alex sees this pretty face, he'd be begging you to take him to prom." He promises and I suddenly feel a bit more confident.

\--------  
"What did he say?" Diego asks as soon as I step into the locker room. I feel my face heat up, so I refuse to look at them otherwise they'd just tease me.

"I don't want to talk about it." I say in a small voice.

"He got rejected." Monty announces to my embarrassment. 

"That’s tough Charlie.” Ramon said.

“I’m not giving up though. He is definitely coming prom with me.”

Soon i feel an arm wrap around my neck and I immediately know it's Luke.

"What are you going to try this time?" 

"I…have no idea." I admit. 

"Maybe we went about it in the wrong way. You're approaching him all romantically but maybe he doesn't like that kind of shit." Diego reasoned. "Try make him laugh. Maybe he'll like that."

"How am I supposed to make him laugh?" 

The room goes silent for a bit as we are all contemplating ideas. Suddenly Luke starts laughing quietly. It soon progresses to all out, chest-clutching laughter.

"What is it?" 

He is now laughing so much he can barely hold himself up. I am kind of relieved to see that everyone else is looking at him with the same confusion as I am.

"Charles... Y-you should print out your face. And gi-give it to everyone i your class. So, when he walks in, he'll laugh so much." He says barely managing to hold himself together.

“Only you would find that funny Luke. It’s a bit creepy.” Diego argues

However at the thought of it, I soon I find myself in a similar state laughing hysterically along with all of the guys in the room. This plan could work.

\-----------  
"How did it go Charlie." Diego says as soon as he sees me in school early the next morning.

"Don't act like Luke hasn’t already told you Diego. He said it was creepy then walked out."

Diego looks slightly guilty. "Well I don’t think you should give u-" 

"I'm not giving up." I say. "I actually have a plan and i need you and the guy’s help for it."

"Yeah anything man what is it?" 

"I think the reason his rejecting me is because I keep asking him in front of everyone and he’s kinda shy. Maybe if I asked him alone..." I trailed off.

“He’ll snog your face off and say yes.” Diego finished.

“Precisely!”

"Ah so you’re confident this time?" Diego says teasingly.

"I'm 100% sure he'll say yes this time." I say giving him a slap on the back then running of to get my plan sorted.  
\-------‐  
Alex's POV  
I feel kinda bad about rejecting Charlie in front of everyone, twice, but hopefully he’ll get the message now. I don’t want to go to prom. The only thing I hate more than prom is grand romantic gestures and Charlie seems to be doing a lot of them lately.

“So, I heard about Charlie yesterday.” Jess who I’m on the phone with says as soon as I pick up causing me to sigh. I should have known that this is what she called me to talk about. “Why did you reject him Alex?”

“Because I don’t want to go to prom!” I argue.

“Don’t you want to show off Charlie to a bunch of girls who probably wan to rip your arms off?”

“I get enough stares in the hallway because I ‘turned football captain gay’ already so no thanks.” 

“But I bet Charlie would be really happy.” She says and for a second, I can feel myself caving slightly as I imagine Charlie sitting alone at prom. “You know what? Let’s meet up for coffee.”

“Are you just gonna try convince me to go to prom?”

“Obviously.”

“I’ll be done at like 5. I have my service hours from the riot. They have me cleaning out the old math book room.” I say walking up to the classroom and opening tot door. When I look inside, I don’t see maths book strew around the floor, gathering dust like I suspected that I would. “So… bye.” I say quickly hanging up my phone.

The small room is illuminated by hundreds of tiny fairy lights and candles. Sitting on a table posing among all the lights is Charlie. I am blow away by how much time and effort Charlie must have put in to fixing up the room, just to ask me to prom. When I step in, he is smiling at me with a certain effortlessly beauty that only Charlie could pull off.

“You can’t have candles in here.” I say lamely. “This is a book room.”

“Oh, they’re prop candles. There’s no live flames.” He says smiling as if he had already anticipated my reaction.

The way he is looking at me with so much love in his eyes makes my heart begins to beat faster and my eyes water. Despite me already rejecting him 2 times, he was still not willing to give up on me. It’s almost like he knows the internal conflict that I’m going through. Scared for everyone’s reaction when they see us together, yet I want nothing more than to throw our relationship in their faces. Up until now, fear has been my biggest motivator for not wanting to go to prom but this might have just over weighed any of that. With Charlie by my side there’s no way I can feel anything but safe. I now feel so lucky to have a boyfriend who would be so persistent to ask me 3 times because I know certainly gave the wrong answer the first two times. And Jess is so right, I /do/ want to show him off so everyone knows he’s off limits. 

“If I say yes, will this all stop?” I ask.

“Yeah that’s the point of it.” He replies cheekily.

“So…Yes.” 

“Yes Charlie…” He says urging me to continue and I am tempted to roll my eyes at hi antics.

“Yes, Charles Brixton Hayden St George. I will go to prom with you.” I accept feeling an overwhelming feeling of happiness rush over me as he leans in for a kiss.

\-----------  
When I hear the words come out of Jess’s mouth, I almost have to double take. There must be some sort of mistake. No really this must be a joke. Even more strangely, Charlie who is next to me doesn’t seem to be laughing, he is just smiling at me and urging me forward to the stage.

“I think my TBI is acting up again Charlie.” I say quietly to him.

“Nope. I heard it too.” He says excitedly, tugging on my arm towards the front.

As we walk up to the stage, my confusion increases. I am not exactly the most popular person so I am shocked that my name even entered the ballot box. Of course, with Charlie being the football captain, it was always a possibility but I thought there would be a bit more intolerance about his sexuality for us to actually get picked.

“What is this? Why did this happen?” I ask Jess as soon as we step onto the stage. She looks just about as confused as I feel. “Was this you?” 

“Secure vote.” She promises. “I told you, it’s whoever the football team want every year.”

My eyes flick over to Charlie who is shooting me a look of utter pride and happiness.

“So, who wants the crown and who wants the tiara?” Jess asks presenting a tray to us. 

I don’t really mind which one I get but Charlie is quick too say ‘I think I’d like the small one’, clearly a gesture to make me feel more comfortable, which I am grateful for.

Jess smiles warmly at him then places the crown on his head. He looks absolutely adorable with the tiara on. Then she quickly places the crown on my head.

“You deserve to be happy.” She smiles at me. For the first time in a long time, I actually believe it.

Soon the crowd begin to chant ‘Kiss. Kiss. Kiss’ and I can feel the warmth coming to my face. I still surprises me when I see the football team also chanting as I never would have imagined them to be so supportive.

As much as I hate public affection, I love Charlie and I want to do nothing more than to kiss him. I lean in slightly and Charlie follows suit and captures my lips in a kiss. When we break apart, I am glad that he didn’t go too far and try to slip me tongue in front of my parents, but I am also a bit unsatisfied with the loss of contact.

“Alright. King Charlie, King Alex. It’s time for your first dance as Liberty High school Royalty.” The DJ announces.

Charlie is smiling at me quite cheekily as I have been avoiding dancing with him all night but it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice. A path clears in the sea of students before us, clearly making space for us to dance. Charlie looks excited and he immediately starts on his way down the steps to the dance floor. However I stand on the top step feling a wave of self-consciousness over come me. All these people will be watching us dancing. What if I fall over or something? I’d never live it down.

Almost as if sensing my concerns, Charlie turns back and reaches a hand out for me. I feel a bit hesitant at first but there’s something in his eyes that just fills me with confidence. I know I’m safe with him. Slowly I reach out to hold his hand and his guides me down the step. 

As we start to dance, I find myself not caring about any of the onlookers because this is our moment. Our time to shine and I won’t let anyone get in the way of that, not even myself! His arms wrap around me, pulling me against his strong chest. Our bodies were so in sync, I could swear our hearts were beating simultaneously. 

“Are you sad right now”?” He whispers softly.

I instantly want to lie in response as it would be easy to tell him that I am fine however, I feel like I owe him more than to just gloss over everything. “Some part of me will always be sad.” I admit causing his head to jerk up. His eyes are upset. “And another part of me is happier than I’ve ever been before.” 

A stunning smile appears on Charlie’s face. 

“I think…I think I’m in love with you.” I admit.

“I’m confident you are…because I /know/ I’m in love with you.” Charlie says causing my heart to flutter and my eyes to water slightly.  
I quickly pull him in for another kiss and I can hear the crowd going wild with cheers around us.  
\----------------------

“Charlie! Or should I say prom King.” Luke, Charlie’s friend screams, barging through a bunch of people to get to us. Soon we are surrounded by the entire football team. Charlie is quick to embrace the boys in tight hugs.

“Actually, I’m prom Queen.” Charlie insists pointing at his tiara causing the boys and I to chuckle.

“You guys looks great together out there.” Ramon says addressing me politely.

“Thanks I’m actually still in shock.” I admit.

“I need to borrow you!” A voice which I know could only belong to Jess announces from behind causing us all to turn. To Diego’s (and my own) dismay, she grabs Charlie’s arm, pulling him to the dance floor.

“Oh no, not again!” Charlie cries but he is soon lost in the sea of people, leaving me alone in the middle of all the footballers.

They are all chattering among each other. Talking about stuff like which girl looks the hottest. I try to seem interested, but I am still not completely used to talking to them, no matter how much Charlie would like me to be.

“You having fun tonight?” I hear Diego’s voice sound from besides me.

“I’m having an amazing time surprisingly.” I admit and he nod. There is a long pause. I can tell that he slightly regrets starting the conversation but he was trying to prevent me from feeling lonely without Charlie so I put in a bit of effort. “You know Charlie’s really lucky to have you guys.”

“How so?” He asks nonchalantly causing me to give him a questioning look.

“Everyone knows that the football team decide who prom king and queen is.”

He makes a strange face at me, almost as if he is trying to think of an excuse but he soon folds. “We… couldn’t think of anyone who deserved to be it more than you guys. Charlie has been though so much shit because of his sexualitly but were his friends and we support him.”

“Wow… I thought all jocks were dicks before.” I say watching him feign a hurt expression.

“Well firstly you’re boyfriends is a jock so technically, if all jocks were dicks he’d be one too.” He says causing me to laugh a bit. “And secondly, we /are/ dicks. But not to our own. On the team, we treat each other like brothers. That means ‘cause you’re dating Charlie, we got your back too.”

He says shocking me slightly. I’ve come from so low, feeling like I had no one else in this world to in this world having so many friend to support me.

“Wow thanks.” I say sincerely.

“All that I ask of you is that you don’t hurt him.” Diego says suddenly getting really serious. “We care about Charlie so much. I am trying not to make this a shovel talk because Charlie would probably kill me but If you hurt him, you’ll have all of us to face.” He says indicting the large footballers behind him.

Ordinarily, getting threatened by the football team, I would feel a bit scared but after getting to know them, this whole situation makes me want to laugh.

“I would never hurt Charlie intentionally.” I promise and I seems to take a large load off of Diego’s chest as he lets out a loud sigh of relief.

“Good. I’ve been hurt before and I would never want Charlie to go through that.” He says shifting his eyes over to watch Charlie as he dances. Or maybe his eyes were on Charlie’s partner. Soon I also find myself watching them dance.  
Charlie looks slightly awkward and is holding her shoulders. Jess lets out a laugh and guides his hand down to her waist to which he looks completely mortified and raises his arms back to her shoulders. Yep. Charlie Hayden Brixton St. George was all mine. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKSSSS FOR READING!!! KUDOS!!!!!!!!! COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


End file.
